Brian Johnson (born 29 June 1939 or 29 June 1940''Imagining Outer Space: European Astroculture in the Twentieth Century'') is a British designer and director of film and television

special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...

Life and career

Born Brian Johncock, he changed his surname to Johnson during the 1960s. Joining the team of special effects artist Les Bowie, Johnson started his career behind the scenes for Bowie Films on productions such as On The Buses, and for

Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

. He is known for his special effects work on TV series including '' Thunderbirds'' (1965–66) and films including ''

Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

'' (1979), for which he received the 1980

Academy Award for Best Visual Effects The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects. History of the award The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized the technical contributions of special effects ...

(shared with

H. R. Giger Hans Ruedi Giger ( ; ; 5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss artist best known for his airbrushed images that blended human physiques with machines, an art style known as " biomechanical". Giger later abandoned airbrush for pastels, mark ...

, Carlo Rambaldi,

Dennis Ayling Dennis Ayling BSC (23 June 1917 – 24 October 1998) was a British cinematographer. He is best known for his miniature effects cinematography for the 1979 science fiction film '' Alien'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effec ...

and

Nick Allder Nick Allder is an English special effects supervisor and coordinator. He started his career as an assistant camera operator and moved, after eight years, into special effects. He has won multiple awards, including an Academy Award for Best Vis ...

). Previously, he had built miniature spacecraft models for

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

's 1968 film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''. Johnson's work on '' Space: 1999'' influenced the effects of the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' films of the 1970s and 1980s. Impressed by his work,

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...

visited Johnson during the production of the TV series to offer him the role of effects supervisor for the 1977 film. Having already been commissioned for the second series of ''Space: 1999'', Johnson was unable to accept at the time.Brian Johnson Interview, 1979
space1999.net. He worked on the sequel, '' The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), whose special effects were recognised in the form of a 1981

Special Achievement Academy Award The Special Achievement Award is an Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most pres ...

(which Johnson shared with

Richard Edlund Richard Edlund, (born December 6, 1940) is an American visual effects artist and inventor. He was a founding member of Industrial Light & Magic, having already founded Pignose amplifiers, and later co-founded Boss Film Studios and DuMonde VFX. H ...

, Dennis Muren and

Bruce Nicholson Bruce Nicholson is a special effects artist who received the Special Achievement Academy Award in 1980 for the visual effects of the film ''The Empire Strikes Back'', which he shared with Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund and Dennis Muren. He won his ...

Awards

Johnson has won

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for both ''

'' (1979) and ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980). He was further nominated for an Academy Award for his work on ''

Dragonslayer A dragonslayer is a person or being that slays dragons. Dragonslayers and the creatures they hunt have been popular in traditional stories from around the world: they are a type of story classified as type 300 in the Aarne–Thompson classifica ...

'' (1981). In addition, Johnson is the recipient of a

Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...

for ''The Empire Strikes Back'' and a BAFTA Award for

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...

's ''

Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...

''.

Filmography

Special effects

* ''

Quatermass 2 ''Quatermass 2'' (retitled ''Enemy From Space'' in the United States and Canada) is a 1957 black-and-white British science fiction horror film drama from Hammer Film Productions. It was originally released in the UK as ''Quatermass II'' and was ...

'' (1957) (special effects assistant, uncredited) * ''

The Kiss of the Vampire ''The Kiss of the Vampire'' (also known as ''Kiss of Evil'' on American television) is a 1963 British vampire film made by the film studio Hammer Film Productions. The film was directed by Don Sharp and was written by producer Anthony H ...

'' (1963) (special effects assistant, uncredited) * '' Thunderbirds'' (TV series) (1965–66) (special effects director) * '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968) (special effects assistant, uncredited) * '' Moon Zero Two'' (1969) (special effects assistant, uncredited) * ''

Taste the Blood of Dracula ''Taste the Blood of Dracula'' is a 1970 British supernatural horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Peter Sasdy from a script by Anthony Hinds, it is the fifth installment in Hammer's ''Dracula'' series, and the fourth to ...

'' (1970) (special effects) (as Brian Johncock) * ''

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth ''When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth'' (titled ''When Dinosaurs Ruled the World'' in the U.K.) is a 1970 British prehistoric dinosaur film from Hammer Films, written and directed by Val Guest, and starring Victoria Vetri. It was produced by Aida Yo ...

'' (1970) (special effects) (as Brian Johncock) * ''

A Clockwork Orange ''A Clockwork Orange'' may refer to: * ''A Clockwork Orange'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess ** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (film), a 1971 film directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel *** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (soundtrack), the film ...

'' (1971) (special effects assistant, uncredited) * '' Space: 1999'' (TV series) (special effects—24 episodes, 1975–76; special effects director—24 episodes, 1976–78; special effects designer—18 episodes, 1976–78; special effect designer—6 episodes, 1976) * '' The Day After Tomorrow'' (TV pilot, 1975) (special effects designer) * ''

The Medusa Touch ''The Medusa Touch'' is a 1973 novel by Peter Van Greenaway, which was adapted fairly faithfully into a feature film in 1978. The novel tells the story of a radically disenchanted novelist with highly destructive telekinetic powers. ''The Medu ...

'' (1978) (special effects supervisor) * ''

Revenge of the Pink Panther ''Revenge of the Pink Panther'' is a 1978 comedy film. It is the sixth film in ''The Pink Panther'' comedy film series. Released in 1978, it is the final on-set performance of Peter Sellers in the role of Inspector Jacques Clouseau. It was also ...

'' (1978) (special effects) * ''

'' (1979) (special effects supervisor) * '' The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) (special effects supervisor) * ''

'' (1981) (supervisor of special mechanical effects) * '' The Pirates of Penzance'' (1983) (special effects supervisor) * '' The NeverEnding Story'' (1984) (director of special effects) * ''

Spies Like Us ''Spies Like Us'' is a 1985 American spy comedy film directed by John Landis, and starring Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Forrest and Donna Dixon. The film presents the comic adventures of two novice intelligence agents sent to the Soviet Unio ...

'' (1985) (special effects supervisor) * ''

'' (1986) (special effects) * '' Slipstream'' (1989) (special effects) * '' Dragonheart'' (1996) (micro-light coordinator) * ''

Space Truckers ''Space Truckers'' is a 1996 comic science fiction film directed by Stuart Gordon and starring Dennis Hopper, Stephen Dorff, Debi Mazar and Charles Dance. It was filmed at Ardmore Studios, County Wicklow, Ireland. The story concerns John Canyon ...

'' (1996) (special effects supervisor) * '' Dream Street'' (1999) (director)

Director

* '' Scragg 'n' Bones'' (2006)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Brian 1939 births Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners Best Visual Effects BAFTA Award winners British film directors Living people People from Surrey Miniature model-makers Special Achievement Academy Award winners